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SKILLS HANDBOOK
CONTENTS
Five Themes of Geography
Understanding Movements
of Earth
Understanding Globes
Map Projections
M1
M2
M4
M6
How to Use a Map
Political and Physical Maps
Special-Purpose Maps
Human Migration
World Land Use
M8
M10
M12
M14
M16
Use Web Code lap-0000 for all of the maps
in this handbook.
Five Themes of Geography
Studying the geography of the entire world is a
huge task. You can make that task easier by using the
five themes of geography: location, regions, place,
movement, and human-environment interaction. The
themes are tools you can use to organize information
and to answer the where, why, and how of geography.
LOCATION
1
Location answers the question, “Where is it?”
You can think of the location of a continent
or a country as its address. You might give an
absolute location such as 40° N and 80° W. You
might also use a relative address, telling where
one place is by referring to another place.
Between school and the mall and
eight miles east of Pleasant
City are examples of
relative locations.
MapMaster Skills Handbook
Location
This museum in England has a
line running through it. The line
marks its location at 0o longitude.
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REGIONS
PLACE
2
3
Regions are areas that share at least one
common feature. Geographers divide
the world into many types of regions. For
example, countries, states, and cities are
political regions. The people in any one of
these places live under the same government.
Other features, such as climate and culture,
can be used to define regions. Therefore the
same place can be found in more than one
region. For example, the state of Hawaii is in
the political region of the United States.
Because it has a tropical climate, Hawaii is
also part of a tropical climate region.
Place identifies the natural and human
features that make one place different
from every other place. You can identify
a specific place by its landforms, climate,
plants, animals, people, language, or
culture. You might even think of place as a
geographic signature. Use the signature to
help you understand the natural and human
features that make one place different from
every other place.
INTERACTION
5
Human-environment interaction
focuses on the relationship between
people and the environment. As people live
in an area, they often begin to make changes
to it, usually to make their lives easier. For
example, they might build a dam to control
flooding during rainy seasons. Also, the
environment can affect how people live,
work, dress, travel, and communicate.
MOVEMENT
4
Movement answers the question, “How
do people, goods, and ideas move from
place to place?” Remember that what happens in one place often affects what happens
in another. Use the theme of movement to
help you trace the spread of goods, people,
and ideas from one location to another.
Interaction
These Congolese women
interact with their environment
by gathering wood for cooking.
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
1 Describe your town or city,
using each of the five themes
of geography.
2 Name at least one thing that
comes into your town or city
and one that goes out. How is
each moved? Where does it
come from? Where does it go?
MapMaster Skills Handbook M1
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LOCATION
Page 2
REGIONS
PLACE
MOVEMENT
Understanding
Movements of Earth
Spring begins
The planet Earth is part of our solar system. Earth
revolves around the sun in a nearly circular path called
an orbit. A revolution, or one complete orbit around the
sun, takes 365 1⁄4 days, or one year. As Earth orbits the
sun, it also spins on its axis, an invisible line through the
center of Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole.
This movement is called a rotation.
Eq
ua
to
r
April
e
Jun
T
ro
p
On March 20 or 21, the sun is
directly overhead at the
Equator. The Northern and
Southern Hemispheres
receive almost equal hours
of sunlight and
darkness.
y
Ma
How Night Changes Into Day
The line of Earth’s axis
INTERACTION
ic
o
fC
an
cer
Ju
ly
Earth tilts at an
angle of 23.5o.
23.5 o
Aug
Earth takes about 24 hours to make one full
rotation on its axis. As Earth rotates, it is daytime
on the side facing the sun. It is night on the side
away from the sun.
M2 MapMaster Skills Handbook
ust
Summer begins
Septemb
e
On June 21 or 22, the sun is directly
overhead at the Tropic of Cancer. The
Northern Hemisphere receives the
greatest number of sunlight hours.
r
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The Seasons
Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle. Because of
this tilt, sunlight strikes different parts of
Earth at different times in the year, creating
seasons. The illustration below shows how
the seasons are created in the Northern
Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere,
the seasons are reversed.
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
1 What causes the seasons in the
Northern Hemisphere to be the
opposite of those in the
Southern Hemisphere?
2 During which two days of the
year do the Northern
Hemisphere and Southern
Hemisphere have equal hours
of daylight and darkness?
Earth orbits the sun at
66,600 miles per hour
(107,244 kilometers per
hour).
March
Febru
ary
Janu
ary
pic
of
Cap
ricor
n
Winter begins
Around December 21, the
sun is directly overhead at
the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere.
The Northern Hemisphere
is tilted away from the sun.
Ar
cti
cC
ircl
e
Tr
op
ic
of
Can
cer
Eq
ua
tor
Tr
op
ic
of
m
be
r
Dece
mber
Tr
o
ve
No
Diagram not to scale
er
ob
t
c
O
Autumn begins
On September 22 or 23, the sun is
directly overhead at the Equator.
Again, the hemispheres receive
almost equal hours of sunlight
and darkness.
Cap
rico
rn
MapMaster Skills Handbook M3
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LOCATION
REGIONS
PLACE
MOVEMENT
Understanding Globes
60° N
40° N
INTERACTION
Northern
Hemisphere
NORTH LATITUDE
20° N
A globe is a scale model of Earth. It shows the
actual shapes, sizes, and locations of all Earth’s
landmasses and bodies of water. Features on the
surface of Earth are drawn to scale on a globe. This
means that a small unit of measure on the globe
stands for a large unit of measure on Earth.
Equator
0°
Equator
( 0o latitude)
SOUTH LATITUDE
20° S
40° S
60° S
Southern
Hemisphere
The North Pole is 90o
north of the Equator.
Parallels of Latitude
Geographers divide the globe along imaginary
horizontal lines called parallels of latitude.
One of these latitude lines is the
Equator, located halfway between
70 o
the North and South Poles.
Parallels of latitude are
60 o
measured in degrees (°). One
50 o
degree of latitude represents
40 o
a distance of about
69 miles (111 kilometers).
30 o
80 o
90 o
20 o
All the latitudes, land,
and water north of
the Equator are in the
Northern Hemisphere.
10 o
0o
0o
The Equator marks
0o latitude and
divides Earth into
the Southern
and Northern
Hemispheres.
10 o
20 o
30 o
40 o
All the latitudes, land, and water
south of the Equator are in the
Southern Hemisphere.
50 o
o
The South Pole is 90
south of the Equator.
M4 MapMaster Skills Handbook
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Meridians of Longitude
Geographers also divide the globe along imaginary
vertical lines called meridians of longitude, which are
measured in degrees (°). The longitude line called
the Prime Meridian runs from pole to pole through
Greenwich, England. All meridians of longitude
come together at the North and South Poles.
All the longitudes, land, and
water west of the Prime
Meridian are in the Western
Hemisphere.
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
1 Which continents lie completely
in the Northern Hemisphere?
In the Western Hemisphere?
2 Is there land or water at 20O S
latitude and the Prime
Meridian? At the Equator and
60O W longitude?
Western
Hemisphere
WEST LONGITUDE
EAST LONGITUDE
0°
20° E 40° E 60° E
Prime Meridian
60° W 40° W 20° W
Eastern
Hemisphere
Prime Meridian
( 0o longitude)
All the longitudes, land,
and water east of the Prime
Meridian are in the Eastern
Hemisphere.
20 o
120 o
10 o
110 o
0o
100 o
90
o
80
o
70 o
60 o 50 o
o 20 o
40 o 30
10 o 0
The Prime Meridian marks 0o
longitude and divides the
globe into the Eastern and
Western Hemispheres.
o
The Global Grid
60° N
30° N
150° W
120° W
0°
90° W
Equator
30° S
60° S
60° W
30° W
Together, the pattern of parallels of
latitude and meridians of longitude is
called the global grid. Using the lines
of latitude and longitude, you can
locate any place on Earth. For example,
the location of 30o north latitude and
90o west longitude is usually written as
30o N, 90o W. Only one place on Earth
has these coordinates—the city of New
Orleans, in the state of Louisiana.
Compass
Wherever you are on
Earth, a compass can
be used to show
direction.
MapMaster Skills Handbook M5
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LOCATION
REGIONS
PLACE
MOVEMENT
INTERACTION
Map Projections
Maps are drawings that show regions on flat
surfaces. Maps are easier to use and carry
than globes, but they cannot show the
correct size and shape of every feature on
Earth’s curved surface. They must shrink
some places and stretch others. To make
up for this distortion, mapmakers use
different map projections. No one
projection can accurately show the
correct area, shape, distance, and direction
for all of Earth’s surface. Mapmakers use the
projection that has the least distortion for the
information they are presenting.
Same-Shape Maps
Map projections that accurately show
the shapes of landmasses are called
same-shape maps. However, these
projections often greatly distort, or
make less accurate, the size of
landmasses as well as the distance
between them. In the projection
below, the northern and southern
areas of the globe appear more
stretched than the areas near the
Equator.
Global gores
Flattening a globe
creates a string of
shapes called gores.
To turn Earth into a same-shape
map, mapmakers must stretch
the gores into rectangles.
Equator
Stretching the gores makes
parts of Earth larger. This
enlargement becomes
greater toward the North
and South Poles.
Mercator projection One of the most common same-shape maps is the
Mercator projection, named for the mapmaker
who invented it. The Mercator projection
accurately shows shape and direction, but it
distorts distance and size. Because the projection
shows true directions, ships’ navigators use it to
chart a straight-line course between two ports.
M6 MapMaster Skills Handbook
Equator
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Equal-Area Maps
Map projections that show the correct size
of landmasses are called equal-area maps.
In order to show the correct size of
landmasses, these maps usually distort
shapes. The distortion is usually greater at
the edges of the map and less at the center.
To turn Earth’s surface
into an equal-area
map, mapmakers have
to squeeze each gore
into an oval.
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
1 What feature is distorted on an
equal-area map?
2 Would you use a Mercator
projection to find the exact
distance between two locations?
Tell why or why not.
The tips of all the gores are then joined
together. The points at which they join
form the North and South Poles. The line
of the Equator stays the same.
Equator
North Pole
Equator
Robinson Maps
Many of the maps in this book use the Robinson
projection, which is a compromise between the
Mercator and equal-area projections. The Robinson
projection gives a useful overall picture of the
world. It keeps the size and shape relationships of
most continents and oceans, but distorts
the size of the polar regions.
South Pole
The entire top
edge of the map
is the North Pole.
The map is least
distorted at the
Equator.
Equator
The entire bottom
edge of the map is
the South Pole.
MapMaster Skills Handbook M7
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LOCATION
Page 2
REGIONS
PLACE
How to Use a Map
MOVEMENT
Locator globe
Many maps are shown with
locator globes. They show
where on the globe the area
of the map is located.
Mapmakers provide several clues to help you
understand the information on a map. Maps
provide different clues, depending on
their purpose or scale. However,
Title
All maps have a title. The
most maps have several clues
title tells you the subject
in common.
of the map.
Compass rose
Many maps show direction by
displaying a compass rose with
the directions north, east,
south, and west. The letters N,
E, S, and W are placed to
indicate these directions.
Western Europe
N
W
Key
Often a map has a key, or
legend. The key shows the
symbols and colors used
on the map, and what
each one means.
E
S
Key
National border
National capital
Other city
Scale bar
A scale bar helps you
find the actual distances
between points shown
on the map. Most scale
bars show distances in
both miles and
kilometers.
0 miles
300
0 kilometers
300
Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area
M8 MapMaster Skills Handbook
INTERACTION
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Maps of Different Scales
Maps are drawn to different scales, depending
on their purpose. Here are three maps drawn
to very different scales. Keep in mind that
maps showing large areas have smaller
scales. Maps showing small areas have
larger scales.
Key
Central London
Greater London
Find the gray square on the main map of Western
Europe (left). This square represents the area shown
on the map above. It shows London’s boundaries,
the general shape of the city, and the features
around the city. This map can help you find your
way from the airport to the center of town.
Find the gray square on the
map of Greater London. This
square represents the area
shown on the map above. This
map moves you closer into the
center of London. Like the
zoom on a computer or a
camera, this map shows a
smaller area but in greater
detail. It has the largest scale
(1 inch represents about 0.9
mile). You can use this map to
explore downtown London.
Point of interest
Park
0 miles
0 kilometers
0.5
1
1
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
Key
Built-up area
Airport
y
1 What part of a map explains
City or county
border
National capital
Town or
neighborhood
0 miles
0 kilometers
10
20
20
Lambert Conformal Conic
the colors used on the map?
2 How does the scale bar change
depending on the scale of the
map?
3 Which map would be best for
finding the location of the
British Museum? Explain why.
MapMaster Skills Handbook M9
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LOCATION
REGIONS
PLACE
MOVEMENT
Political Maps
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
Political maps show political borders: continents,
countries, and divisions within countries, such as
states or provinces. The colors on political maps do
not have any special meaning, but they make the
map easier to read. Political maps also include
symbols and labels for capitals, cities, and towns.
10° W
0˚
10° E
40° N
Algiers
Strait of Gibraltar
2 What is Angola’s capital city?
Political Africa
Key
30° E
Disputed border
National capital
d
iter
TUNISIA
rane
an
Tripoli
MOROCCO
National border
Tunis
Other city
Sea
40° E
Alexandria
(Spain)
WESTERN
border, a national capital, and
a city?
20° E
Me
Rabat
MADEIRA Casablanca
(Portugal)
CANARY ISLANDS
1 What symbols show a national
40° N
20° W
30° N
INTERACTION
30° N
N
Cairo
ALGERIA
LIBYA
EGYPT
i le
E
W
S
N
d
20° N
Tropic of Cancer
Re
R.
SAHARA
Tropic of Ca
ncer
(Morocco)
CAPE
VERDE
20° N
Ni
ERITREA
Asmara
g er
d
of A
DJIBOUTI Gulf
R.
Djibouti
TOGO
SOMALIA
O
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
30° S
Antananarivo
BOTSWANA
Tropic of Capricorn
Gaborone
Pretoria Maputo 40° E
Johannesburg
Mbabane
SWAZILAND
Bloemfontein
Maseru
Or
ang
Durban 30° S
0 miles
R. LESOTHO
MAURITIUS
Port Louis 20° S
RÉUNION
R.
Tropic of Capricorn
Limpopo
MOZ
AM
INDIAN
OCEAN
NAMIBIA
Windhoek
(France)
50° E
e
Cape Town
Cape of Good Hope
M10 MapMaster Skills Handbook
Lake Turkana
Congo R.
NG
10° E
Dakar, Senegal
Dakar is the capital of Senegal, in
West Africa. Its Presidential Palace
overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.
ETHIOPIA
Kisangani
ZIMBABWE
20° S
10° N
Mogadishu
UGANDA
50° E
Kampala Lake KENYA
Equator
Libreville
0˚
DEMOCRATIC RWANDAVictoria
GABON
Kigali
Nairobi
REPUBLIC
BURUNDI
Brazzaville
OF THE CONGO Bujumbura
Mombasa
Kinshasa
TANZANIA Zanzibar
CABINDA
(Angola)
Dodoma
Dar es Salaam 50° E
Lake Tanganyika
Luanda
Lake
10° S
10° S
Nyasa
COMOROS
Lubumbashi
MALAWI
ANGOLA
Moroni
Lilongwe
ZAMBIA
b
e
z
m
E
i
a
R.
U
Lusaka Z
Q
Harare
MADAGASCAR
BI
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
São Tomé
Equator
0˚
SÃO TOMÉ &
PRÍNCIPE
0˚
en
Addis Ababa
CO
10° W
50° E
a
Se
MAURITANIA
MALI
Nouakchott
Tombouctou
NIGER
Praia SENEGAL
CHAD
Khartoum
Dakar
GAMBIA
Lake
Chad
Banjul
Bamako
Niamey
N'Djamena
SUDAN
Bissau
BURKINA Ouagadougou Kano
GUINEA- GUINEA
10° N
FASO
BISSAU
BENIN NIGERIA
Conakry
IVORY GHANA
Abuja
Freetown
CENTRAL
COAST
Porto-Novo
SIERRA LEONE
AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Lagos
Monrovia Yamoussoukro
Bangui
CAMEROON
Accra Lomé
LIBERIA
Malabo
Yaoundé
Gulf of Guinea
SOUTH
AFRICA
Cape Agulhas
20° E
0 kilometers
1,000
Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area
30° E
1,000
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Physical Maps
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
Physical maps represent what a region looks like by
showing its major physical features, such as hills
and plains. Physical maps also often show elevation
and relief. Elevation, indicated by colors, is the
height of the land above sea level. Relief, indicated
by shading, shows how sharply the land rises or falls.
o
sM
a
l
At
30° N
Canary Islands
L
Lake
Albert
Ad
Hig ama
hla
n
Congo R
.
Congo
Basin
Ade
n
10° N
N
E
W
Lake Turkana
Lake
Victoria
0°
of
G ul f
Lake Tana
Ethiopian
Highlands
Sudd
Ubang
i R.
Volta R.
E
50°Disputed
border
a
.
R. wa s
d
São Tomé
Equator
National border
20° N
20° N
Se
0°
A
Below sea level
.
10° W
Gulf of
Guinea Bioko
rt
ese
ATLANTIC OCEAN
B e n ue
R
0–200
Below sea level
d
20° W
Re
Fouta
Djallon
E
200–480
0–650
ile R
eN
Blu
H
Lake
Chad
480–1,980
1,600–6,500
650–1,600
nD
R.
A
R
1,980–3,960
6,500–13,000
30° N
bi a
A
g er
.
lR
S
10° N
H
t
eser
A
Ni
S
Suez
Canal
S e a
Meters
More than
3,960
More than
13,000
Ara
20° N
Feet
an D
Liby
Tropic of Cance
r
ELEVATION
40° E
Qattara
Depression
ar
gg ins
a
Ah unta
Tibesti
o
M
Mountains
Seneg
a
40° N
t Valley
at Rif
Gre
Strait of Gibraltar
a hiking trip?
30° E
20° E
M e d i t e r
r a
n e
s
n
a n
i
a
unt
20° W
Cape
Verde
Islands
10° E
40° N
2 How can you use relief to plan
Physical Africa
Key
Nile
10° W
highest elevation?
Wh it e ile R
N
0°
1 Which areas of Africa have the
Serengeti
Plain
Equator
Kilimanjaro
19,341 ft
(5,895 m)
Zanzibar
S
50° E
0°
INDIAN
OCEAN
Lake Tanganyika
50° E
10° S
30° S
Kalahari
Desert
Orang
eR
.
Drake
Cape of Good Hope
an
n
Moz
am
biq
ue
The Congo Basin is a major
physical feature of Africa. The key
shows that its elevation is within
the range of 650–1,600 feet.
Tropic of Capricorn
Ch
Z
The Congo Basin
Okavango
Basin
p
Lim opo
R.
bezi R.
am
el
Madagascar
Mauritius
20° S
Réunion
Tropic of Capricorn
50° E
40° E
0 miles
rg
10° E
esert
bD
mi
Na
20° S
10° S
Comoros
Lake
Nyasa
nsb
e
30° S
1,000
0 kilometers
1,000
Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area
30° E
Cape Agulhas
20° E
MapMaster Skills Handbook
M11
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LOCATION
Page 2
REGIONS
PLACE
MOVEMENT
Special-Purpose Maps:
Climate
INTERACTION
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
1 What part of a special-purpose
map tells you what the colors
on the map mean?
Unlike the boundary lines on a political map, the
boundary lines on climate maps do not separate
the land into exact divisions. For example, in this
climate map of India, a tropical wet climate gradually
changes to a tropical wet and dry climate.
2 Where are arid regions located
in India? Are there major cities
in those regions?
India: Climate Regions
Key
75° E
70° E
80° E
35° N
Tropical wet
Humid subtropical
Tropical wet and dry
Highland
Semiarid
National border
35° N
Arid
85° E
C
65° E
30° N
T
Delhi
85° E
90° E
95° E
I N
A
PA
P
A
H
NE
K
IS
A
N
95° E
L
City
100° E
90° E
30° N
BHUTAN
25° N
25° N
65° E
Tropic o
BANGLADESH
f Cance
r
N
100° E
20° N
I N D I A
20° N
cer
of Can
MYANMAR
Calcutta
(Kolkata)
W
Tropic
Mumbai
(Bombay)
90° E
95° E
E
S
85° E
15° N
15° N
70° E
Chennai
(Madras)
10° N
10° N
SRI
LANKA
0 miles
0 kilometers
500
Lambert Conformal Conic
75° E
Rain in Delhi
5° N
5° N
M12 MapMaster Skills Handbook
One of Delhi’s features as a place is its
humid subtropical climate. During its
rainy season, Delhi receives heavy rainfall.
500
80° E
WS for
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Page 3
Special-Purpose Maps:
Language
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
1 What color represents the
Malayalam language on this map?
This map shows the official languages of India. An
official language is the language used by the government. Even though a region has an official language,
the people there may speak other languages as well.
As in other special-purpose maps, the key explains
how the different languages appear on the map.
2 Where in India is Tamil the
official language?
75° E
80° E
The Hindi language
35° N
35° N
Jammu &
Kashmír
IS
T
A
85° E
Himachal
Pradesh
N
C
Haryana
NE
A
K
Delhi
P
65° E
Tropic o
I N
A
Punjab
Arunachal
Pradesh
Sikkim
PA
L
BHUTAN
Uttar Pradesh
Rajasthan
25° N
H
90° E
Assam
Bihar
Meghalaya
f Cance
r
Jharkhand
ar
100° E
MYANMAR
20° N
95° E
India: Official Languages
Key
Andhra
Pradesh
85° E
15° N
N
Karnataka
Chennai
(Madras)
Kerala
10° N
E
W
S
Tamil
Nadu
Hindi
Gujarati
Bengali
Kannada
Telugu
Malayalam
Marathi
Oriya
Tamil
Punjabi
Urdu
Other
10° N
SRI LANKA
0 miles
cer
of Can
90° E
Goa
70° E
Tropic
Orissa
Maharashtra
Mumbai
(Bombay)
15° N
sg
Ch
Daman
& Diu
a
ur
Calcutta
(Kolkata)
tti
ha
I N D I A
20° N
West
Bengal
h
Madhya Pradesh
Gujarat
Tri
p
BANGLADESH
25° N
Nagaland
ur
30° N
Hindi is the most widely
spoken language in India. It
is also the most popular
language in Delhi.
nip
65° E
Mizoram M
a
70° E
500
500
0 kilometers
Lambert Conformal Conic
National border
State border
City
75° E
5° N
5° N
80° E
MapMaster Skills Handbook M13
WS_Africa_014_015_migration.qxd
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12:04 PM
LOCATION
Page 2
REGIONS
PLACE
MOVEMENT
INTERACTION
Explorers arrive Human Migration
In 1492, Christopher Columbus set
sail from Spain for the Americas with
three ships. The ships shown here
are replicas of those ships.
Migration is an important part
of the study of geography. Since
the beginning of history, people
have been on the move. As people
move, they both shape and are
shaped by their environments.
Wherever people go, the culture
they bring with them mixes with
the cultures of the place in which
they have settled.
AT L A N T I C
OCEAN
NEW SPAIN
(Spain)
Mexico City
Caribbean Sea
DUTCH
GUIANA
Panama City
(Netherlands)
NEW
GRENADA
FRENCH
GUIANA
(Spain)
(France)
.
azon R
Am
PERU
Native American pyramid
When Europeans arrived in the Americas, the
lands they found were not empty. Diverse groups
of people with distinct cultures already lived there. The
temple-topped pyramid shown above was built by
Mayan Indians in Mexico, long before Columbus sailed.
Lima
(Spain)
BRAZIL
(Portugal)
Cuzco
Potosí
RIO DE
LA PLATA
(Spain)
Migration to the Americas, 1500–1800
A huge wave of migration from the Eastern
Hemisphere began in the 1500s. European explorers
in the Americas paved the way for hundreds of years
of European settlement there. Forced migration from
Africa started soon afterward, as Europeans began to
import enslaved Africans to work in the Americas.
The map to the right shows these migrations.
M14 MapMaster Skills Handbook
Concepción
0 miles
0 kilometers 1,000
Wagner VII
1,000
Buenos Aires
WS_Africa_014_015_migration.qxd
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12:04 PM
Page 3
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
1 Where did the Portuguese
settle in the Americas?
2 Would you describe African
SCOTLAND
ENGLAND
IRELAND
NETHERLANDS
FRANCE
migration at this time as a
result of both push factors and
pull factors? Explain why
or why not.
EUROPE
PORTUGAL
SPAIN
“Push” and “Pull” Factors
Geographers describe a people’s choice
to migrate in terms of “push” factors
and “pull” factors. Push factors are
things in people’s lives that push them
to leave, such as poverty and political
unrest. Pull factors are things in
another country that pull people to
move there, including better living
conditions and hopes of better jobs.
MOROCCO
N
W
WALO
E
AFRICA
S
N
Fort James
Cacheu
AKAN
STATES
r R.
ige
Saint-Louis
Elmina
Axim Accra
BENIN
Congo R.
Congo
Basin
KONGO
Luanda
Benguela
AT L A N T I C
OCEAN
Migration to Latin America, 1500–1800
Key
European migration
Spain and possessions
African migration
Portugal and possessions
National or colonial border
Netherlands and possessions
Traditional African border
France and possessions
African State
England and possessions
Elmina, Ghana
Elmina, in Ghana, is one of the many ports from
which enslaved Africans were transported from
Africa. Because slaves and gold were traded here,
stretches of the western African coast were
known as the Slave Coast and the Gold Coast.
MapMaster Skills Handbook M15
WS_Africa_016_017_LandUse.qxd
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Page 2
LOCATION
REGIONS
PLACE
World Land Use
MOVEMENT
INTERACTION
World Land Use
Key
People around the world have many different
economic structures, or ways of making a living.
Land-use maps are one way to learn about these
structures. The ways that people use the land in
each region tell us about the main ways that
people in that region make a living.
Nomadic herding
Hunting and gathering
Forestry
Livestock raising
Commercial farming
Subsistence farming
Manufacturing and trade
Little or no activity
National border
Disputed border
N O RT H
AMERICA
Wheat farming in the United States
Developed countries practice commercial
farming rather than subsistence farming.
Commercial farming is the production of
food mainly for sale, either within the
country or for export to other countries.
Commercial farmers like these in Oregon
often use heavy equipment to farm.
SOUTH
AMERICA
Levels of Development
Notice on the map key the term
subsistence farming. This term
means the production of food
mainly for use by the farmer’s own
family. In less-developed countries,
subsistence farming is often one of
the main economic activities. In
contrast, in developed countries
there is little subsistence farming.
M16 MapMaster Skills Handbook
Growing barley in Ecuador
These farmers in Ecuador use hand
tools to harvest barley. They will use
most of the crop they grow to feed
themselves or their farm animals.
0 miles
0 kilometers
Robinson
2,000
2,000
WS_Africa_016_017_LandUse.qxd
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6:55 PM
Page 3
PRACTICE YOUR
GEOGRAPHY SKILLS
1 In what parts of the world is
subsistence farming the main
land use?
2 Locate where manufacturing
and trade are the main land
use. Are they found more often
near areas of subsistence
farming or areas of commercial
farming? Why might this be so?
Growing rice in Vietnam
Women in Vietnam plant rice in wet rice paddies, using the
same planting methods their ancestors did.
EUROPE
ASIA
AFRICA
N
W
E
S
AUSTRALIA
Herding cattle in Kenya
Besides subsistence farming,
nomadic herding is another
economic activity in Africa.
This man drives his cattle
across the Kenyan grasslands.
MapMaster Skills Handbook
M17